Wednesday, 30 September 2015

As Spectre is going to be released very soon, I thought I would upload the full theme song, Writing's on the Wall, by Sam Smith. To be honest, I don't like his voice much, but I do like the song. Anyone else is excited about the next Bond movie? I know I am.

As the official countdown to Halloween starts tomorrow (even though I did if you noticed started mine a few weeks earlier), I have again decided to become a cryptkeeper, at the invitation of the Countdown to Halloween website. For this year's countdown, I chose the patch representing the monster of Frankenstein, as popularized with Boris Karloff. No particular reason for it, albeit I hope I can write a few posts about Mary Shelley's offspring. But there will be plenty of other monsters and critters. Today is a fitting day to create a monster, all gloomy and dark. A time to read horror stories, which I encourage you to do.

Tuesday, 29 September 2015

I took this picture today in the Plateau Mont-Royal. It is too hot these days here, with temperature almost summery. But it should be cooler tomorrow. I say it is too hot, far too hot indeed, so I cannot gloat like I often do about Montreal autumns that are oh so autumnal. That said, it is most definitely autumn: just look at the leafs covering the pavement. It is not the case everywhere, in fact there are many bits of roads where the trees boarding them are very green, but then there are these narrow streets where autumn is very present. The season in Montreal, if I am honest, is often a bit schizophrenic, especially in September. That said, September is about to end and then the temperature should soon feel like it looks. Sadly I will then be gone.

I took this picture last Sunday in La Baie, at the window of a natural products shop. Not a very good picture I'm afraid, there was lots of people so I tried to be as discreet as I could and not to bother the passersby. But you can see a friendly looking scarecrow, a few pumpkins, dead leafs and finally, a very discreet Jack O'Lantern, right by the foot of the friendly scarecrow. It was quite a warm day, it did not feel very autumnal but for the trees finally changing colour, so it was nice to see a display reminding us of the season and its attributes, among them harvest and my favourite holiday. I will write more in the upcoming days and weeks abou the signs of Halloween. There is not much longer to wait now.

Monday, 28 September 2015

This is about the best shot I could take of tonight's Supermoon. But I'd rather call it blood moon, even if here it does not look red at all and even if it has sinister undertones. It is far cooler to be a blood moon than a blue moon. And the moon did have a beautiful crimson bloody colour tonight. For the record, I did not change into a werewolf... yet. Last time I claimed I did, it backfired. But a blood moon would be an ideal to turn into one, or at least see one. Especially since Halloween is coming. Anyway, here is my contribution to tonight's rare lunar phenomenon. This lousy picture.

Sunday, 27 September 2015

I took this picture of the autumn collection s(I refuse to call it Fall) of David's Tea in their shop on the Avenue Mont-Royal, but it is about the one in... Chicoutimi, I want to talk about. Because I have learned something really cool from the older sister of my godson (who is by any practical means a niece to me): there is actually a shop in Chicoutimi. My quasi-niece says that she discovers she really loves tea, as she tries the free samples every time she goes there with her mother. I found it very sweet and I am glad she is discovering tea. She is a young teenager (she turned 14 less than a month ago), so I was surprised she could find tea drinking cool and trendy. And I am glad there is a market for tea drinkers here in my home town.

Well, apparently, I am not the only one on Halloween mood. When I visited my friends two days ago, this is what was at the center of the table: a beautiful (by this I mean repulsively ugly) grinning witch. next to her, there were pumpkins in a glass bocal. The whole display, with its napkins with leafs and so on looked both gloriously autumnal and deliciously spooky. Ironic, since my friend does not like autumn much, or at least not when it starts, and it is definitely autumnal here these days. But this is a new sign of Halloween I saw and enjoyed tremendously.

Saturday, 26 September 2015

Okay, this is a short post and a very serious one, as I sometimes blog about serious stuff. I recently learned that someone I care about very much is suffering from epilepsy. She is a very sweet girl and when I was told she was epileptic it shocked and troubled me. I decided to do some research about it, because I was worried and also because I thought that, since I know very little about the disease, I better learn what to do if she ever gets into an epileptic seizure in front of me. So I found this video on YouTube which I thought was really instructive. Sharing it on this blog is my good deed of the day.

Friday, 25 September 2015

I am a sucker for the products of David's Tea and sometimes it pays off unexpectedly. On my first day in Montreal, there was a special promotion for teachers, they would get one free teacup. As I chatting in the shop, I mentioned that I was unfortunately no teacher, but that my wife was, although on the other side of the Atlantic. So the person there gave me a free teacup anyway, on behalf of my wife... who does not like tea at all. So I had a free cuppa. And not just anything: their new spiced pumpkin from their Autumn collection (that's right I refuse to call it fall). Taken in a fresh autumn day, walking on the Plateau Mont-Royal, is pretty much my idea of happiness. I think I might prefer spiced pumpkin to their pumpkin chai, which so far was my autumnal drink of choice I will also need to try their pumpkin maté. Anyway, while the best things in life are not always free, this one was, both the moment and the drink.

Thursday, 24 September 2015

"Chicoutimi is an Amerindian wordit means up to where the water is deepthis word refers to the Saguenaya big a beautiful a splendid riverbut Chicoutimi as a town is uglyas every American townand this ugliness is very interestingbut fortunately nature surrounds every townin this countryand nature cannot be ugly"

I used this quote again yesterday on Facebook. As my long-time readers know, I have a fascination for this play. So anyway, I used this quote on my Facebook page, as usually do. And I was told by one of my cousins that, while the play is great, what the character Gaston Talbot says is inaccurate: Chicoutimi can be pretty in some places, even beautiful and is like a San Francisco of the North. I have not seen San Francisco, except in pictures, so cannot comment about this claim, but I do know that this city (it is a city and not a town, as it has a cathedral, at least that much is inaccurate) can be beautiful, sometimes, in some places. I will need to rediscover it in the upcoming days.

Still, the San Francisco of the North did not look much like San Francisco yesterday. I thought about these lines when the bus was riding through the Boulevard Talbot (fitting name, isn't it? I don't think Larry Tremblay gave the same family name to his character at random). It sure looks ugly. But there are bits, when you are near the Saguenay river and can see the fjord, where it is absolutely breathtaking. Okay, so this would be nature. not the city itself. There are plenty of old buildings which I noticed again and thought they were quite pretty in an old fashioned way. Maybe this is what my counsin meant? Chicoutrimi is also full of hills and slopes, something I rediscover any time. Not unlike Liverpool, but calling it the Liverpool of the North would be kind of redundant, as Liverpool is also in the North. So I will ponder on this in the next few days.

Wednesday, 23 September 2015

Today is the autumnal equinox, the official first day of autumn. Even though autumn truly starts with the month, in my humble opinion. But the equinox makes it somewhat more real. And to commemorate it, I thought I would upload here this image of my favourite dog, Snoopy. I found this on Facebook and just had to use it. Although I do not like the americanism "Fall". It's not Fall. It's Autumn.

Tuesday, 22 September 2015

I found this in a newsagent on Mont-Royal Avenue. You can see here the French translations of Earthly Powers and Beard's Roman Women by Anthony Burgess. Two great novels by my favourite writer. In a trivial newsagent with lots of magazines, a whole lot of crime books and bestsellers, there were these two great, these two amazing novels. I have even been unable to find Beard's Roman Women in original English so far. A book that contributed to the development of my love for Italy. Anyway, I find it reassuring to see these books in such an unlikely place. I love my city a bit more.

Monday, 21 September 2015

Here is a little bit of intercultural anecdote. Yesterday morning, I was walking on Mont-Royal Avenue wearing a jumper from Rebellion Beer. I might have been the first person ever to wear the jumper of this obscure English microbrewery (obscure here anyway, in England it is known all around the South East). So as I was waiting to cross a street, a homeless English speaker asked: "Rebellion Beer? What are you rebelling against, buddy?" I didn't know what smart answer I could give, so I just said that it was a microbrewery from Marlow, England. Later, my brother, who thought that was a hilarious question, told me I should have said: "I'm rebelling against sobriety". Which deserves to be a great unknown line. It was said fifteen minutes too late.

I think I have brought autumn here. After a very hot, borderline heatwavish Saturday, the temperature in Montreal dropped of a few dramatic degrees. In the next morning, it was much cooler. Cool enough to walk in the shade with a heavy jumper and feel fine. The air had that light chill of early autumns. It was lovely. And the sunlight has a dimness that is also unmistakably autumnal.

Sunday, 20 September 2015

I am back in Montreal since yesterday. This is the meal I had yesterday evening: traditional bagel from St-Viateur, smoked salmon, capers and all, with a soup on the side. The perfect homecoming meal for a Montrealer. I cannot express how delicious it was, how good it felt and I thought I would taunt you with it.

Friday, 18 September 2015

There was a dramatic sight on my way to work this morning: the shop window of a jeweller was lying on the pavement, broken down, a police line wrapped around the area, with a single police car and a police officer guarding it. This was three minutes away from home, if that. On the street parallel to ours. In a quiet little English town where nothing happens. My first thought was: "so they still do jewellery heists, like in the old movies and crime novels?" Okay, so it was not nearly as Hollywoodian, but there was something surreal about it. Like it belonged to another time or something. I don't know why I think that. I guess now I see burglary as the theft of TVs, computers, etc. Something akin to looting, in other words. Stealing fancy jewels belongs to another time, with posh thieves wearing nice suits, Venetian masks and white gloves. There was an element of looting in this heist: the burglars rammed a car in the window in the early hours of the morning before stealing it. I could have heard it. I guess I was sound asleep.

My second thought about the burglary was: "this could be the starting point of a great crime fiction story". Hot ice, a very modern setting, a quiet English town (this could of course be changed into any quiet town, or suburbs), MOD that is brutal, very contemporary and which contrasts with the object of the burglary. I say this and I know it must have been horrible for the owners and the staff. When your working place gets vandalized as well as burglarized, it must be a traumatic experience. Even for the locals. But I can't help thinking that this could be the beginning of a great story. I guess there is a cathartic element to turning such bit of news into fiction. Maybe not before the criminals are caught though.

Thursday, 17 September 2015

This is the title of this painting, created by local artist Marilyn Smith. I took the picture in an exhibition back in May and had been waiting for the right time to share it on the blog. Because it is a lovely image, for one. And because it is getting there here. Who Would have thought September in England could be so autumnal? It is cool, sometimes borderline cold, and the trees are showing fiery colours. Not all, not completely, but they are there. I love my country of adoption these days. Ironically enough, I will soon visit home, where it is unusually warm, even hot, for September. It might change while I am there. In any case, when I get back, I intend to take an autumn walk in the woods. I want to experience the autumn glow completely.

Wednesday, 16 September 2015

Well, who would have thought?My readership knows that I was about to do grading last Sunday for Krav Maga. I grew very stressed about it. And in the end, all the bruises, scratches, sweats, tears and blood were worth it in the end: I actually passed grading. I must confess, I was not expecting it, I was not even hoping for it. I never considered myself a natural fighter and a natural athlete, so one of the leitmotifs of Krav Maga, "do what is natural", was difficult, is still difficult to grip for me. So I didn't feel ready or confident at all. And I know that I don't train for a badge or a grade, but for the eventuality of real combat situation. I train to be safe. That said, it's still nice to pass an exam, however low your score may be, and it's always good for the ego to have a badge. The knowledge, the skills, the reflexes, I still have a lot to learn. But this is encouraging for the things to come. And it's a nice badge. "Train Hard, Fight Harder" is the motto of the club. I thought it would be a fitting title for this post.

Tuesday, 15 September 2015

I haven't uploaded a Pink Floyd song on this blog since April. A song from The Wall, not my favourite album, which might surprise you. Still quality stuff. I enjoyed the movie too, however unsettling way. Anyway, Comfortably Numb is not how I feel tonight, but it is how I long to feel. Without pain or worries. Without the LSD of course. This was during their performance on Live 8. Back in 2005, it was not aired in Canada, which got me outraged. So uploading it today is a bit of a revenge for me.

Monday, 14 September 2015

My long time readers know of my love for Snickers as chocolate bar of choice for both endorphin and energy boost. Well, I recently discovered a new variety of Snickers: Snickers & Hazelnut. Guess what is different with this bar. Yes, you guessed it, very perceptive of you: hazelnuts. Maybe I am a sucker, I don't know, I don't really follow new recipes of old successes, but I really love the added taste of hazelnuts in my Snickers. It gives it a distinctive and actually distinguished taste. Because let's face it: hazelnuts are far more sophisticated than peanuts or, well, peanuts. Added to the workmanlike Snickers, it's one of those odd matches that actually work. Like I said on Facebook: "Eating Snickers and hazelnut is snob, but it's good". Maybe not something they'd use for their advertisement campaigns, but I think it deserves to be a new great unknown line. In any case, if you want to try a great classic revisited with success, try this bar.

Sunday, 13 September 2015

I am again using a picture taken from the Facebook page of David's Tea. This one came with this quote of C.S. Lewis: "You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me." I've never read C.S. Lewis, I don't think I'd agree with him on many subjects (more on this another time, maybe), but this is as far as I'm concerned pure wisdom. Tea and reading are two pleasures that go well together. Especially if the tea is drunk in a mug like the one of the picture, which is of course from their autumn collection (this particular one is a Nordic mug). So here would be ideal pleasure: tea, in one of these mugs, a good book, on an autumn day. Especially since it is looking more and more autumnal every day.

Saturday, 12 September 2015

Yesterday evening, I had an impromptu training session of Krav Maga with fellow wannabe warriors in one of the local parks. It is the most important park of the town, some of us had decided during the day that we should do a bit of extra training for the upcoming exam tomorrow, so we agreed to gather as night was falling on the cricket lawn there. It is the biggest park of this town, it is also maybe the most beautiful, especially when night is falling. So we were six people there, practicing on the lawn what we will be asked to perform and discussing our strengths and weaknesses and it was simply, excuse the cliché, magical. We talked and smiled and joked. I also committed another great unknown line: "Next time we practice outside like this let's try to find ourselves a bunch of angry drunken teenagers to apply our knowledge to real life situations". That made them smile. I really enjoyed this time and, for some reason, I have felt part of a group more than at any other moment in the last few months . So it was a lovely moment that needs to be repeated.

I blogged before about the Perky Peacock. I wanted to blog about it again, because it was a lovely experience, for one, and also because I found something a bit... odd in their menu. This thing. It is called "toasted cinnamon and raisin bagel". I was maybe too polite not to correct them when I was there, the Montrealer I am has to say it in case you want to try it: this is most certainly not a bagel. This is a proper bagel. These are bagels. What the Perky Peacock calls bagels is toasted raisin bread. Do not get me wrong: it is very good. It is perfect for breakfast, perfect for tea time too, just sweet enough and very filling. Great value for money. But it is not a bagel. If you want to have a delicious breakfast in York at a very decent price (£2.50), go to the Perky Peacock and order one of these. If you want to know what is a proper bagel, go to Montreal, or find yourself a baker who is a Montreal expat. This was good, but no bagel.

Friday, 11 September 2015

I don't know why, but I feel like it's only me today who remembered it was the anniversary of 9/11. Among my friends, colleagues and acquaintances that is. There has been no mention of it at work, on my Facebook page, or barely anything. As if it was a distant memory. I will not blog about it for long, but I invite my readers to check my post from 2008 and 2009. These were two of the blog posts I was most proud of, since I have started blogging. So here it is for this year's anniversary. I am sure there must be report of commemoration on the news. I know have not forgotten.

Thursday, 10 September 2015

After last Saturday, I thought I would not find a new sign for the upcoming Halloween for a while. I was wrong: the next day, I saw this bottle of Hobgoblin from Wychwood. Sure, they sell Hobgoblin all year round, but only when Halloween is coming does the hobgoblin of the label holds, instead of his usual axe, this marotte with a Jack O'Lantern as head. I should not be surprised: it is the officious beer of Halloween after all. So I bought some and had one that night. It tastes better all year round, but even better when Halloween is coming. Oh and on a sadder note: the local pub that was serving Wychwood products fell out with the mcirobrewery (from what I understood from the landlord when I asked him a few weeks ago), so if I want to take a pint of Hobgoblin in a pub, it will have to be somewhere else. But in any case, I will keep you posted for the next sign of Halloween.

Wednesday, 9 September 2015

I did not blog about Krav Magafor a bit, I thought I'd do it tonight. It is a time to look back at it: it has been four months since I first started training.It took me a while to get decided to learn it. I had started doing it out of sheer curiosity, now I discover that I really enjoy it and look forward to the class every week. Partially for reasons peripheral to the martial art itself. People in my class came and went, I saw lots of new faces, sometimes
only once and a few faces became familiar ones. So I have a sort of social
life through it.I wish I had more time to work on it and wish I was as committed as some of my fellow warriors. But I am also very happy to know about self defense and acquiring this skill, however badly. I am still very much a beginner and physical activities have never been my forte. I have my first grading this Sunday and I am very nervous about it (so if I don't blog that day, you know why). But I will do my best and in any case, I now feel more secure learning Krav Maga.

Tuesday, 8 September 2015

Quick post tonight, as there is a big bit of news today about the upcoming James Bond movie Spectre: Sam Smithwill be doing the song. It is titled Writing's on the Wall. I know absolutely nothing about Sam Smith and I cannot remember hearing even one song of his.That is how little I know or care about the music industry nowadays. That said, I have a good feeling about this one. I might be wrong, of course. And my hunch is based on very little: I just love the title. Writing's on the Wall, which is a British expression meaning there is a sign of an impending doom, difficult if not impossible to avert. Fatality, in other words. I love how ominous it is. So there you have it. I can barely wait.

Monday, 7 September 2015

I took this picture from the Facebook page of David's Tea. But that must be okay, because I am giving them free publicity and that I will be such a sucker when the time comes and I'm in Montreal: I will buy a lot of their products, and not only their teas. The accessories such as this one too. It is the hedhehog colour changing mug from their autumn collection (they call it fall collection, but I call it autumn). So it's colour changing. And it has a hedgehog on it, sitting on top of a bunch of pine cones. Question: can you get any cuter? I thought I might buy it only for the family flat in Montreal or for the house of my parents, as a mug I use on the occasions when I go there. We have plenty of mugs here, so we don't really need a new one. But my wife said we could still find room for this one. It is just so cute. And so perfectly autumnal. So there you have it. I really am a sucker.

There are rare moments in my life when I wished I lived closer (even closer) to London. Today is one of those days: Waterstones Piccadilly is hosting a discussion on Anthony Burgess and William Shakespeare, or more precisely about Burgess's biography of the Bard. Which is great, but I guess they will also speak of Nothing Like the Sun, Burgess's novelization of Shakespeare's life, which is even greater. Andrew Biswell will be there. I have met him a few times and he's always interesting. Very knowledgeable too. Sadly, because of work (I finish at 5:30PM, the discussion starts at 6:30PM), I don't think I can get there on time. And with many other things going on, a trip to London is highly unlikely. Shame, shame, shame. But for those who can be there, because they live in or near London, or because they have free time, it's on the 18th of September. Go. It's going to be good.

Sunday, 6 September 2015

As my French speaking readers know already, I will in the relatively near future be on holidays... again. But this time, it will be to go home. As I have not seen Montreal or the Saguenay region since the last Christmas holidays, I am really looking forward to it. I have been missing home for some time. And to remain patient until the holidays happen... I am planning my journey ahead. Well, not much, as it will be straightforward and most of it is already settled. I mainly check what will be available on in-flight entertainment. I am also trying to decide, as I always do, which books to bring with me. On long journeys, you always need good books. Still, little details like these get me all excited.

Yesterday, my wife and I went to John Lewis. As it is always the case there, it was crowded and reminded me why I hate shopping, but there was one sight that made this shopping trip worth it: the very first Halloween display I saw this year. You can see it on the picture. It had a number of decorations and accessories: Jack O'Lanterns, vampires, witches, ghosts, creepy spiders, among other things. Oh and haunted houses too, I am very tempted to buy one of those. In any case, it got me in a Halloween mood. I know it is getting nearer every day. I am glad I am not the only one preparing for it.

Saturday, 5 September 2015

This painting is from local (I think she is local anyway, but to which extend I have no idea) artist Susan Thetford.Iit is called Chiltern Beechwoods. I took the picture at a local art exhibition, back in May. Like many of the autumnal paintings that were on display, I really loved it and thought I would use it when the time comes, to accompany a blog post. And now is the time. Since the beginning of September (and even before), it looks and feels like autumn. Autumn is not merely on its way, it has arrived. Sure, the colours are not as bright as on the picture... yet. But they are certainly showing up.

It has been a near perfect September month so far. So this is time to take autumnal walks, preferably in woods. We have plenty of pieces of woodlands around here and beech trees are common in this part of England. They are simply gorgeous in autumn. So it is time to wrap myself in warm clothes (I really missed those too) and find a beech wood nearby to walk in.

It is Saturday and I want to carry on the weekend tradition on this blog of plugging a meal from a café, a pub or a restaurant. This one is from Brew & Brownie in York. More precisely, their three cheese, red onion and leek toastie on their menu. Need I say more? You can find it on the picture at your right. I have no idea whatsoever what the three cheeses are of they are the same ones every time. But that was a delicious hearty meal. I love grilled cheese sandwiches, this one was both sophisticated and yet it was so perfectly decadent it did not betray its true nature. On a cool day like it was that day, it was a heart warming meal. Just what it was needed. So if you visit the city, I encourage you to stop there.

Friday, 4 September 2015

It is Friday, so I thought I would upload a meme that made me laugh so hard this week. Maybe because I was (and I am) tired, but I really thought this was hilarious. It is from Grammarly (I didn't know about it until this week). I mean, is it only me? Just reading it for the million time, I am laughing again. I must be tired.

Thursday, 3 September 2015

Less than a month ago, I uploaded the picture of a tree which leafs were already changing colours. The tree is on the other side of the street of a train station, so every morning and evening on way to and back from work I see it. This is what the tree looks like now. And I took this picture last weekend, when it was not even September yet. Yes, it is a precocious one, but all the same: the colours of autumn are already showing, here and there. It is safe to say that the season has started. So far it has been an atypically idyllic September, kind of cool and, well, autumnal. Let's hope it stays this way.

Wednesday, 2 September 2015

I often have in the head these days the songs of Simon & Garfunkel. Probably because I first watched The Graduate around this time of year. and every time it is on TV, it seems to be around this time of year too. Okay, so Cecilia is not from the movie, but it might as well have been. It is a silly, nonsensical and very catchy song like many from the 60s and 70s. Although its author seemed to have given it a deeper meaning, I just love it for its beat. So here it is.

Tuesday, 1 September 2015

We are the first of September, which is for me the true start of autumn. My favourite season. I know it officially says it starts with the equinox, but I don't care: autumn starts with the month of September. Period. Meteorologists consider it the beginning of autumn too, so it is not a flight of fancy from me. In any case, September is starting as cool and very much autumnal, so there you go. And as the season is associated with harvests, I have decided to mark its beginning with this picture, of apples, crabapples and jars of crabapple jelly and apple jelly. In a basket which could be considered a horn of plenty. It is a seasonal tradition on this blog. It is now time for harvest and hearty food. I hope you are enjoying the beginning of September as much as I am and that this picture will make you enjoy it more.